thenamesofnightfandomcom-20200214-history
Vampire
Victims of Necrotic Sanguinary, known as vampires, are one of the most enduring parahuman races in Earth's history, appearing in one form or another in most cultures. They are (theoretically) linked to the Elsewhere race known as Blood Elders, but exactly how is not yet confirmed. Regardless, vampires are extremely dangerous in their own right, and possess an aresenal of physical weapons, including superhuman speed, strength, and agility, as well as rapid regeneration and a suspended aging process, giving them virtual immortality. These abilities increase with age, and older vampires are far more difficult to kill than younger specimens (known as whelps). History The earliest known record of vamprism comes from the Mesopotamian 'Lilith scrolls', which are carbon dated to around 3125 BC. The series of four fragmented scrolls, the first two of which are written in Sumerian, while the third and fourth are pictograms, have been examined by the world's leading linguistic authorities, who offer the following translations and interpretations: Scroll I: (The first few lines of the scroll are burnt, making them illegible)...her, for she is first, Lilith is she named, sufferer of the plague that brings darkness to the blood and...(burned)...she is damned, and those whom she feeds upon shall be her children and...(illegible)...fear them, for they thirst, and never can the water of the river sate them, only...(burned)...pity them, for never can they feel the embrace of Shamash, for it burns them...(illegible)...the touch of arget burns them also, and...(burned)...they are damned. Scroll II: Behold, for while they walk as the steps of Ereshkigal, they are not spared her taking. The wood of the trees, when sharp and strong, is as...(illegible)...the heart is the source, and its destruction brings about their sundering. Black blood rises forth, and they are rent as brittle char. The sun and fire can slay them also, but take care, for they possess mighty powers to heal themselves, as though...(burned)...Lilith and her children now fear our hunters, and we shall drive them back to the pit from whence they came. Scroll III: The third scroll bears the image of a woman on her deathbed, and a black cloud hovering above her. The next panel depicts her rising from the bed and feeding upon a young man, while a line of black smoke connects them. Next, the young man rises from the floor, and in the final panel, the two figures are depicted slaughtering a crowd of people. Scroll IV: The fourth scroll has been a major source of debate for many scholars around the world, but seems to depict blueprints for a wooden stake tipped with silver and engraved with the glyph of Shamash, the sun god. If so, this would make the fourth Lilith scroll the earliest known design for a slayer weapon. The Lilith scrolls are not the only record of vampires to exist before the time of Christ. An oral tradition handed down in the Greek village of Orma (which has existed since approximatley 630 BC) holds that that a woman was bitten by a 'servant of Hades' and transformed into goddess of the night, whom the locals took to worshiping by the name 'Hekita', which has since evolved into Hecate, Goddess of Magic. While many would dismiss this as simple myth, an exhamination of the professed abilities of Hekita/Hecate reveals such 'miracles' as raising the dead with her blood, recovering from massive wounds, and incredible feats of strength and speed, all of which are abilities accessible to a vampire.